


It's Not What You Think, Really!

by ThePrimeOne



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Misunderstandings, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Self-Indulgent, very, very self-indulgent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:41:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23028739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePrimeOne/pseuds/ThePrimeOne
Summary: “So, speaking of sweet things...” Sylvain began in a tone that Ashe wasn’t sure he liked. “How was your date with Petra today, hm?”Ashe almost choked on his food.
Relationships: Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Petra Macneary
Comments: 20
Kudos: 89





	1. Verdant Rain Moon Part 1

“...And that is how we are hunting for fish in Brigid!” Petra enthusiastically finished explaining to Ashe. The two walked side-by-side back from the main town towards Garreg Mach Monatery as the sun began to set behind them.

“So that’s how that it goes, huh?” Ashe rubbed his chin in thought. “I’ve never really thought to use a spear to fish, but I suppose if you don’t have a fishing rod like the professor seems to always have, that’s definitely an effective alternative,” Ashe thought aloud.

“It is amusing. Sometimes I am thinking that the professor’s fishing rod is his relic weapon with all the time she is using it. In fact, I can imagine the professor battling with a fishing rod quite clearly now,” Petra giggled at the thought, a smile growing on Ashe’s face.

“Petra, you once said you and many in Brigid are adept at sailing, did you not? Do you not normally use your boats to fish with nets?”

“Ah, a good question,” Petra nodded. “You see, when it is a time of celebration or a festival is nearing, we put our energies towards fishing with nets. We catch as many as we need, and once we are done, we are using them to create wonderful dishes. Such methods have great efficiency compared to spear fishing. Sometimes we do fish with nets when it is the season for plentiful fish because preserving fish is easy enough. But most times when we are simply needing food, we are hunting with spears. ”

Ashe and Petra signalled for the gatekeeper to open the gate into the small marketplace in the monastery. “That’s fair enough. Being efficient and only working as hard as you need to is always a good thing.”

“Yes, efficient, just like your commoner techniques!”

Ashe couldn’t help but heartily laugh at her enthusiasm. “Yes, just like my commoner techniques.”

The two stepped into the main hall of the monastery stopping at the doors leading to the dining hall and the reception hall. “Well, that was quite a pleasant day wasn’t it? You definitely looked like you enjoyed yourself, Petra.”

The plum-haired princess happily nodded. “Yes! I had great enjoyment today. Thank you for showing me what commoner life is like, Ashe. It truly is wonderful, especially with you there to guide me.”

Ashe went red to the tips of his ears. “O-oh, I don’t know about that,” Ashe sputtered before quickly gaining composure again. “But I’m glad you did enjoy yourself regardless. What are you going to do now, by the way?”

“I will be having tea with Dorothea soon. She said she is wanting to have the ‘girl talk’ with me, so I must be going. Farewell, Ashe,” she bowed with her fist pressed to her chest.

“Oh! Well, see you later Petra!” Ashe called out as she jogged off to the gardens. The young Gaspard heir furrowed his brow having watched her farewell him so… formally. He supposed it couldn’t be helped, especially if such a farewell was the norm in Brigid.

Something to ask about next time they go out to town together, he mentally noted.

Heading into the dining hall just in time for dessert, Ashe was surprised to spot a seemingly not-so frustrated Ingrid standing across from Sylvain at a table across the room- in fact she seemed to actually be _enjoying_ herself as she spoke to Sylvain. 

Pig’s must’ve flown earlier that day.

As Ingrid left Sylvain to his devices, the young man’s head scanned the room and happened upon Ashe, arm shot up signalling for the boy to come to the table. Obliging if only out of curiosity, Ashe was surprised to be greeted with a fresh bowl of Peach Sorbet that Sylvain slid across to the other side of the table.

"For me? Are you sure Sylvain? I'd feel bad if you were giving it to me and you didn’t get any,” Ashe frowned at his classmate. Sylvain heartily laughed at Ashe’s concerned expression. 

“Well, to be honest, I got the dish myself, but just for you, Ashe. I saw you coming in earlier so I figured I’d get you something.” 

“Why’s that? What about Ingrid just a little while ago? She seemed happy enough when she was talking to you, I’m sure she would have appreciated some...” Ashe questioned Sylvain. The redhead chuckled awkwardly with a drawn out sigh escaping his lips soon after. 

“If you think that was her when she’s happy, then you haven’t seen a happy Ingrid,” Sylvain replied, rather deflated. “She might have been smiling on the surface, but she was anything but that.”

‘Ah,’ Ashe thought, somehow equally both surprised and unsurprised. 

Pigs did not in fact fly that day.

Ashe connected the dots of what Sylvain said and realised that Sylvain must’ve done something irresponsible again. Most likely breaking another girl’s heart he could only guess, and Ingrid had taken it upon herself to clean up his messes. Not exactly model behavior from someone who lectured to him about ‘seizing people’s hearts’, especially from one that broke them more times than not. 

And despite being classmates, they didn’t know each other _that_ well. It seemed almost odd to Ashe that Sylvain wanted to seek him to speak to him so suddenly.

“Anyway, I just wanna have a little… chat is all,” Sylvain smiled innocently, one that made Ashe immediately suspicious of his intentions. Regardless, Ashe sat down opposite Sylvain, too tempted by the Peach Sorbet and dug into the sweet dessert, unable to handle letting the dish sit there without it being eaten.

“It’s pretty good, huh?” Sylvain asked, his expression unchanged from moments before. “Since I know you like sweet things, I asked that they add some extra peaches for you, so it’s extra tasty too,” Sylvain explained, Ashe surprised that Sylvain was perceptive enough to pick up on something so mundane.

“Mmm… it’s really good, actually! Thanks Sylvain,” Ashe smiled, digging into his sorbet again.

“So, speaking of sweet things...” Sylvain began in a tone that Ashe wasn’t sure he liked. “How was your date with Petra today, hm?”

Ashe almost choked on his food.

“W-what? Date?!” Ashe yelped in surprise. It had taken Ashe a second for his comment to sink in, but when it did Ashe was thankful that he had the tendency to eat in small portions, else he’d be choking on his food from the shock alone. Guffawed by Ashe’s reaction, Sylvain threw his head back, the former still baffled by the sudden timing of the question.

“But of course!” Sylvain replied. He propped his arm on the table and leaned his face into his hand. “I saw you and Petra leave earlier to go into town today- and I also saw you two approaching the gates not too long ago too. In fact, a little birdy told me that it’s not the first time they’ve seen you two out together like that, so I was hoping that you’d be able to let me in on how it all started. It’s also why I got this for you,” Sylvain explained, pointing to the Peach Sorbet. 

“You got this for me just to lure me into…?

“Hey, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do,” Sylvain shrugged. “But really you gotta tell me all about this, because I didn’t know you had it in you, buddy! All that work and dedication to knighthood and here you are philandering over and over with a Black Eagles chick!”

“Ph-philandering…?” a bewildered Ashe mumbled, his jaw dropped to the table out of shock.

Sylvain’s tone was a carefully selected playful one rather than a criticising tone. Sylvain knew that since he would come across as more of a hypocrite than he did already otherwise; especially in the eyes of Ashe, who’d already seen Sylvain try to convince Dorothea to have dinner with him. “While she isn’t my type to begin with, she is kinda cute isn’t she?” Sylvain grinned leaning over towards Ashe. “You know, if you want any tips for getting to next base, I’d be happy to-”

The silver haired boy let out a small groan under his breath, his cheek quickly being dusted in red. “It’s nothing like that, Sylvain,” Ashe states firmly. “Petra just wants to know what the commoner life is like. That’s really all there is to it.”

“Really? That’s it?” Sylvain asked, evidently not convinced.

“Yes, really. Not everything has to be romantic or… whatever, Sylvain,” Ashe awkwardly tried to explain to his classmate.

“Huh. That’s strange then,” Sylvain trailed off in thought. 

Ashe sighed. He refused to believe that Sylvain was being serious in any sort of capacity. “What is, Sylvain?” Ashe asked him, mouth half full of food, despite how unbecoming it was of him.

“Are you really, _really_ sure there’s nothing between you two going on?” Sylvain asked Ashe, his tone now more inquisitive than cheeky.

“No! Th-there’s nothing like that between us. We’re just classmates,” Ashe shot back, an edge of irritation in his voice and on full display on his face. “I’m not sure why you suddenly care so much, but really, you don’t have to make things so… weird. But I need to go get prepared to get some sleep soon. Thank you for the Peach Sorbet, Sylvain.” Ashe respectfully thanked Sylvain and marched off to the kitchen. Sylvain, left on his own once again could only contemplate what he said.

  
“Hmm. Maybe he was mistaken after all.”

* * *

_“You know your Highness, you really ought to loosen up sometime and go ask out a girl sometime soon,” sighed Sylvain, placing a spotless sword to the side and picking up another one and lazily cleaning away at it. “I_ **_have_ ** _been making good on my end of our bargain, you know. No incidents or scandals for some time now. Just some dates here and there and… well that’s really it.”_

_Dimitri looked at him with a raised eyebrow that disappeared further behind his bangs. Sylvain matched his expression for a few moments before he ultimately gave in._

_“Okay, okay, I may have taken one of them to my room at one point, but it was just her, really your Highness. And it’s not like anything bad came from that either,” Sylvain explained himself, whilst Dimitri sighed._

_“Yes, I’m well aware, Sylvain. You didn’t exactly try to keep her quiet,” Dimitri shook his head, Sylvain awkwardly chuckling. “Well, I suppose that’s true you have been tempering yourself in that regard.” Dimitri carefully placed a sword down next to a pile of broken ones and picked up another to clean. “Very well, tomorrow I shall uphold my end of our bargain and ask a girl out on a date, as you so wish,” Dimitri declared._

_“Great! I can’t wait to see what lucky girl will be around your arm, your Highness,” Sylvain grinned._

_“I’m sure you can’t Sylvain,” Dimitri chuckled at his friend’s excited demeanor. “Actually, before I do that, I was thinking of asking both you and Ashe some advice about how I should go about such a task before I go through with it.”_

_Sylvain’s hand grinded to a halt over the sword. “Uh, your Highness? Did you say who I thought you said?”_ _  
_

_Hm? You mean Ashe? Yes, you heard correctly. Why do you ask?” Dimitri asked, as if it weren’t the craziest, most bottom of the barrel idea Dimtiri could’ve come up with._

_“Your Highness. We’re talking about the same Ashe, yeah? The guy who’s is all about training to become a great ‘virtuous and gallant’ knight, the boy who is too sweet, innocent and optimistic for his own good. If I’m being honest, he probably doesn't have a flirtatious bone in his body- offence to him of course.”_

_Dimitri sighed. “Please be more respectful, Sylvain. Should anyone else hear that, especially Ashe, I can’t imagine how he’d feel. Although I would have seen what you mean had this been when we first began our year here, I do think you’ve been underestimating him quite a bit- and so have the rest of us.”_

_Sylvain’s attention was now all on Dimitri and no longer cleaning weapons. “Really now? Do tell…”_

_Dimitri began elaborating on what he cryptically meant moments ago, breaking down what he saw and when-_

_“Wait, wait, wait. You saw Ashe with Petra? The Princess from Brigid, in the Black Eagles house Petra? That Petra?” Sylvain inquired, bewildered and slack jawed all at once. “And he was out in town with her? The two of them? On their own?_

_Dimitri furrowed his brows at the incessant amount of questions. “Yes to all of the above, Sylvain. Honestly, you are not the first who have reacted similarly. Dedue, Mercedes, the Professor. They could all hardly believe me. And I know it may sound crazy to you especially but you know I’m not one for lying.”_

_“Oh, I know your Highness, it’s just… Ashe of all people going on dates?”_

_“I was surprised too, but if anything, I am happy for him. I first saw them together in the marketplace speaking with Anna, and he seemed to actually be enjoying himself. A good thing, especially in light of what happened with Lonato. She’s quite level-headed, and I think she’s good for him.”_

_“Are you sure you aren’t just misinterpreting things your Highness?”_

_Dimitri rubbed his chin. “Well, I certainly hope not. But that wasn’t the only time I’ve seen them out together.”_

_“This has happened more than once?” Sylvain let what Dimitri say sink in for a moment. “Right. Okay. Look your Highness, if I’m being honest, I think the circumstances with that are… special, shall we say. If you need any advice for that date, just ask me, okay?”_

* * *

  
“Yeah, I should just trust my gut next time.”

* * *

The next day had not begun a normal one for Ashe.

Outside of the strangely awkward air during breakfast and the beginning of class (something their professor noted quite bluntly), his day had progressed smoothly. Study for the upcoming certification exams had gone quite steadily on all fronts for the Blue Lions, and Ashe was no exception. Ashe always concentrated in class to learn as best he could to catch up and move ahead of his peers. Of which Ashe last had heard from the professor, Bernadetta and Ignatz had made great strides in their archery, but also began to excel in other areas. Bernadetta had recently begun to ride horseback in battle to allow for quick movements from the front to the back lines, while Ignatz discovered he had a budding talent in Reason, of which the Professor suspected he would soon be on the verge of unlocking his dormant potential soon.

And then there was Petra. As soon as the Professor mentioned her name, Ashe’s mind pushed memories of his conversation with Sylvain to the forefront of his mind. The professor’s voice faded out into the background as he thought back on the conversation.

They weren’t on a date. They were never on dates. He was just satiating her curiosity. And besides, he liked that a noble- or a royal in this case, was so interested in the common folk. It was something he admired about Lonato when he first brought him and his siblings under his roof, and how he extended a similar kindness to the common folk in Gaspard territory. 

And such a thing was something he admired about Petra too.

But it didn’t mean anything romantically, really!

Because of course it didn’t, it never did. Besides, he had no experience romance of any kind. Sure he could read one of his Knight’s tales, many of which had a focus on romance of some kind, but Ashe was smart enough to know that such fantastical romances weren’t the norm in real life.

And yet, even with these thoughts, his mind wouldn’t- or perhaps couldn’t stop thinking about that conversation with Sylvain.

Petra this, Petra that.

Petra’s eyes, Petra’s thighs-

_Wait, what?_

“Ashe.”

The Gaspard heir’s head shot up towards the source of the voice with a flurry of rough coughs following closely after. His professor blandly staring at him as she always did. “Uh, yes professor?”

“Are you paying attention? You look and sound rather sick.”

“Um, I’m fine don’t worry about that Professor,” Ashe cleared his throat. “And well, I’m trying to concentrate but…” Ashe trailed off, crumbling under his teacher’s gaze. 

“Something on your mind?”

“What? No, no. I’m sorry professor, I was just spacing out,” Ashe mumbled in embarrassment. His professor sighed and shook her head.

“Well, if you say so. Listen up, because I won’t repeat this again, okay?” she said calmly as she always did.

Ashe nodded, taking in what his professor said to mind. If there was one thing that was that was clear they all had in common is they were all archers that were adept in other areas of combat. Ashe soon learnt that Petra had become quite adept at being a Thief and began to make strides to becoming an Assassin. 

All of his peers excelled at other areas of combat that didn’t ever _click_ with him. He’d learnt enough Reason to shoot a wind spell and even a cutting gale, but it was nothing spectacular like Igantz. Ashe could never understand how Bernadetta could fire a bow on horseback in the middle of battle and Petra… well, her ability to use bows as well as her impressive swordsmanship was the cherry on top for her.

Unlike them, he had nothing else to fall back on. All he had to his name were Bows- the weapon that took Lonato’s life and served to only remind him of the incident every time he held the weapon in his hands. It beat him down further into the ground every time he thought of the arrow that lodged itself between his armour and ultimately took his life.

“She’s also expressed an interest in becoming a Pegasus Knight at some point down the line. Though whether or not that’s possible for me to teach her all of that within the remaining school year remains to be seen,” Byleth quickly mentioned, swiping her chin with the feather end of the quill she was holding in thought. 

…And she was more ambitious than he ever could be.

“Okay, I think I get it. But what does this have to do with me, Professor?”

“...I want you to remember something, Ashe.”

“Yes, Professor?”

“Just because you believe yourself to be lacking, does not mean that others- or even I, see it that way,” the Professor reassured him with a very rare smile, lips quirked up on one side. “Your focus on proficiency in Bows has made you outclass almost- _almost_ everyone I’ve mentioned. You’ve also saved lives more times than I think you realise.”

Ashe looked down, left hand gripping his right elbow. “You really think so, Professor?”

“Absolutely,” she says with little hesitation.

“If I was as strong as you say I am, do you think I somehow could’ve saved Lonato too?”

His professor’s hesitation to answer told Ashe all he needed to know and the former knew it. But still, she answered his question. 

“I don’t know,” she said quietly. Ashe sighed.

He figured as much. He wasn’t strong enough to stop Lonato back then and so he’d resolved to become stronger- both to find out why he did what he did, and to make sure I can become a knight so that something like that won’t happen again.”

“His blood is on my hands now. The blood of those villagers is on my hands now too,” he said a matter of factly. “It’s hard not to think about whenever I hold a bow in my hands. I lose focus and can’t place my shots correctly. It’s why I want to focus on something else, but nothing ever just… works,” Ashe droned on, his voice growing emotionless by the second.

A hum escaped the lips of the professor. “For what it’s worth,” she began carefully. “I still think it’s worth pursuing using the bow. Like I said you’ve saved many lives no thanks to your skill. I know Petra can attest to that.”

Ashe unconsciously looked up at the mention of her name. “She can?”

The professor nodded. “Do you recall when she joined us for our mission to meet Lonato in battle? When you had caught up to him and tried to talk him into backing down, she pushed you out of the way to keep you safe. Had you not had the proficiency and speed you possessed at the time, a shot into his arm- much less the killing blow would have been impossible for you to pull off. Petra would have died by Lonato’s hand, and I have no doubt that you, Dimitri and Annette would have lost your lives soon after.”

Petra shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The thought of Lonato killing his fellow Blue Lions and himself didn’t sit well with Ashe, and strangely, even more so when Petra was in the picture; something Ashe couldn’t piece together. 

And yet at the same time, knowing he’d saved her- their lives comforted Ashe a great deal.

Then a thought occurred to Ashe. “You sound so sure of yourself, Professor. How can you be so sure that would have happened? Both Dimitri and Annette are capable fighters.”

For a moment, a flash of rare emotion crossed her eyes, though Ashe was unable to pick up on just what it was. “I think it’s best you take my word for it, Ashe,” she bluntly said, pulling out a piece of paper. “Oh, and here’s your assigned job for today,” she says hurriedly. “Dorothea was strangely insistent that she swap out your chores, but considering how much easier this will be on you, I figured you would be okay with it,” she explained, handing him the paper.

“Just picking up some vulneraries and some other goods from town, huh? I suppose that’s easy enough. Better than cleaning the greenhouse. I ought to thank Dorothea when I get the chance.”

“It should be. I know today’s turned into a bit of a heavy day for you, so get some rest when you’re done, okay?”

“Alright then. Thanks Professor.” Ashe gave his professor a weak smile and quickly exited the room.

At the very least, this would be smooth sailing.

* * *

“Listen kid, I’m not going to lower my prices like that again,” Anna huffed, crossing her arms. “I can’t afford to go out of business because I keep lowering my prices, especially like that one time you haggled me for those vulneraries!”

Ashe sighed. “Listen, I understand you’re feeling rather annoyed at the price I haggled out of you, but really I assure you I’m not going to ask for something like that again.”

“Really? And why should I believe you?”

“Well, your usual bargain rate is 10 percent, correct? How about we meet in the middle and say 15 percent. You will still get a substantial amount of gold from me unlike last time, but I won’t have to pay as much as your base price. It seems like a win-win to me, assuming you want me to buy your wares and not someone else’s…”

“Ok lets calm down now…”

“Ashe? Is that you?”

Said boy froze for a second before he turned to the source of the voice. To his surprise the familiar plum haired princess appeared before Ashe, wandering towards him. Ashe’s jaw dropped for a moment. What was she doing here? Why was she here?

“O-Oh, Petra! What a surprise! What are you doing here?”

Petra scrunched her nose, looking around town. “I am waiting. You see Dorothea had been asking me to be meeting her here in the town this afternoon. She was also wanting to show me something, but she has not been showing here for some time.

Ashe furrowed his brows, recalling what the Professor said earlier about Dorothea. As far as he knew, they were good friends, so why would she…?

“Ah, it is you! Anna, yes?” Petra exclaimed wide-eyed at Anna, having noticed the redhead behind Ashe. “This situation is giving me familiarity,” Petra said, looking at Anna and Ashe all three recalling what had happened the month before.

The shopkeep frowned and crossed her arms. “That’s right. I’m guessing you’re Petra, yes? Come to challenge me to another fight again?”

Petra smiled and shook her head. “No, no. I have not come here for a fight. But please be taking my apologies for my misunderstanding,” Petra said, quickly bowing to the redhead. Anna sighed and shrugged. 

“Well I suppose I can accept your apology- better late than never as they say. Anyway, have you come to buy any of my wares, young lady? Or have you come to drag your boyfriend away?”

“Boy… friend?”

Ashe suddenly launched into a fit of coughs, his face glowing red. Petra placed a concerned arm on his shoulder. “Ashe? Are you okay? Should we be getting you to the monastery?”

Ashe’s body shivered and suddenly acutely aware of its surroundings at the mere touch of his shoulder. “I… I’m fine! Really, there’s nothing wrong,” Ashe sputtered, quickly clearing his throat. Seeing he was okay, Petra moved from his shoulder.

And somehow, Ashe felt disappointed.

_‘Wait, what-’_

“If you are saying so. But no I am not coming here to drag away my ‘boy friend’. I am here to see a classmate.” Petra said with a straight face, while Ashe could slowly feel his soul leave his body.

“Ah, w-were not like that, really!” Ashe quickly explained to Anna, who seemed boh unconvinced and amused by Ashe’s reaction.

Petra nodded. “We are not. I suppose if you were my friend, then perhaps that would make you my boy friend- because you are a boy,” Petra thought aloud, Ashe shifting awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. “But you see Anna, Ashe is just showing me the secret techniques of the commoners instead.”

“...Secret techniques?”

“Yes! You are knowing what… haggling is, yes? That is one of them. I am hoping he will teach me more.”

“Secret techniques, huh?” Anna snickered. “Oh yes, I’m sure he’s got many, many secret commoner techniques he can show you, young lady. He’s been doing lots of… studying, with many books he’s bought from me. Maybe he can show you those secret techniques one day too,” she said wiggling her eyebrows.

Ashe groaned as Anna let out a loud laugh, whilst Petra looked between the two utterly confused. “I am confusion… confused. Is more commoner techniques not a good thing? Is there something I am missing, Ashe?”

Anna grinned, wiping a tear from her eye. “No, no, you’re not missing anything kid, trust me,” Anna winked at Petra. “In fact, you’re just in time! I was just about to sell these wares to your… ‘friend’, over here for 30% off, so you can take a bag for him.” Anna snickered. Ashe looked up in both embarrassment and surprise.

“Think of it as a gift for making my day, kid,” Anna heartily laughed, handing him two large bags of vulneraries along with other small items. Ashe slid Anna the appropriate amount of gold and lifted one bag off the table and Petra with the other. “Thanks a bunch… Ashe, was it?”

“Y-yeah. Thanks again, Anna,” Ashe coughed and quickly scurried off with Petra in tow.

“Come back soon!” Anna exclaimed with an edge of cheek in her voice. “Oh, and Petra!”

The Brigid Princess turned back to the shopkeep. “Yes?” Petra called back.

“Stay at Ashe’s side, okay?! Guys who know how to haggle a good price are always keepers!” Anna winked in their direction. Petra, not seeing the steam practically coming out of Ashe’s ears, grinned back in Anna’s direction as innocently as she always did. 

“I think that’s a good idea. Thank you Anna!” Petra bowed to the shopkeep.

Ashe concluded that Anna really wanted to kill him from sheer embarrassment alone today. Ashe scampered off in a random direction in town, anywhere that got him away from Anna’s shop with Petra quickly jogging after him. “Ashe! Is there something wrong? You seem very red. Do you need to be seeing Professor Manuela?”

“No, no, I’m fine,” Ashe shook his head profusely. “Here, I’ll take that bag for you Petra. I need to get these back to the Professor soon. Besides, didn’t you say you were going to be seeing Dorothea for tea?”

“Yes, but she is still nowhere to be found. I am concerning… concerned about it.”

“Um, well, maybe she’s just got caught up in trouble and is a little late. But if you want, I could always keep you company on our way back,” Ashe blurted without much thought. Petra’s face upturned into a bright smile. 

“Would you be willing?” Petra asked, sounding hopeful. 

“Of course! I don’t have much to do for the rest of the day, so I’d be more than happy to occupy some of my free time in your company,” Ashe said truthfully. The two wander the streets together before they happened to stumble across their destination.

“Ah, I know this place! The owner of this store, Maria, runs this bakery. This is usually where we get some of our own sugar if the monastery is low on supplies and those running the kitchen limit how much we can use. I know Mercedes comes here fairly often because of that,” Ashe pointed out to Petra. 

“Oh?” a new voice called out, an older woman having stepped out to greet Ashe and Petra, “Hello you two. Are you looking to eat… oh! Ashe? Is that you dear old boy?”

“Oh! Um, yes that’s me!” Ashe stammered at her energetic enthusiasm despite her age. “It’s been too long, Maria.”

“It certainly has, hasn’t it? And who may you be young lady?”

Petra bowed and introduced herself. “I am Petra Macneary, ma’am. It is nice to be meeting you.”

“Ma’am? I’m not _that_ old now,” The older woman laughed heartily. “But yes, I recognise the name. It is also nice to finally put a face and voice to your name, Petra. I’m hoping you do not mind me not calling you by your title, do you?”

Petra blinked in surprise. “I do not mind. But I am wondering- how do you know me?” Petra asked incredulously, Ashe just as surprised as Petra was.

“Well, you hear many things, often unintentionally of course, when you have young couples gossiping with each other and think no one else can hear. I believe it was that young diva, Dorothea and another young man who mentioned you, dear. Tall, redhead, handsome…”

“Ah, Sylvain?” Ashe supplied.

“Yes! Sylvain would be correct. In fact…” Maria trailed off, looking into Ashe’s eyes. Ashe swallowed saliva, feeling rather nervous- as if she could see right through him. The woman hummed before shaking her head. “Ah, forgive me, I seemed to have forgotten what I wished to say. Perhaps my age really is catching up to me.”

“I am not agreeing,” Petra spoke up honestly. “We are always forgetting things, even young people.”

Maria smiled. “Well, I suppose you’re not wrong. Even so, I had almost forgotten my son will be coming to visit me soon, hence why my shop is closed, you see. I hope you’re not disappointed.”

“No, it’s okay, really. We were just waiting here for a friend is all- Dorothea, actually,” Ashe explained.

“Yes, but I have been waiting for some time, and time marches,” Petra frowned. “I suppose something has happened. I am thinking I should go back to the monastery. I should be checking on her in case something happened.” Petra frowned, evidently disappointed. Seeing her face stricken with disappointment stirred a certain feeling within Ashe that he couldn’t put his finger on.

“I am appreciating… appreciative of your kindness, Ashe,” Petra smiled, turning to Maria. “I had pleasure meeting you, Maria,” Petra bowed.

“I feel the same, Petra. You two should come sometime soon. I’ll treat you two to a nice meal for free because of the inconvenience.”

Petra furrowed her brow. “For free? But why? Are you not in need of money?”

Maria laughed. “Oh no dear, nothing like that. Think of it as a kind gesture. Not everything one does has to be paid back equally. Sometimes it’s okay to just let someone be nice without expecting payment. This is just one of those things,” Maria smiled warmly at Petra.

The Brigid Princess tilted her head, as if to deeply contemplate what she said.

“I see. Well, I shall keep that in mind. Farewell, Maria,” Petra bowed once again and turned to Ashe. “Now I am believing this is where we go to the town’s gates…” .Petra trailed off, wandering back where they came from and into a random street.

“Uh- hey, Petra, wait for me! You’re going the wrong… oh boy,” Ashe sighed. “See you later Maria!” Ashe exclaimed, waving back as best he could with the bags in his hands, chasing after Petra.

“Ashe.”

The Gaspard heir halted in his tracks. “Yes?”

“I heard what happened with Lord Lonato. I can’t imagine how you’re feeling because of such an incident, but I’m glad you’re feeling better. Unless it’s… well, just do make sure to bring her around some time soon, okay?”

Ashe sheepishly nodded. “O-okay. And thank you, Maria” Ashe turned on his heel and went down the street Petra disappeared down and quickly caught up to Petra, who’d gotten lost down the wrong alleyway.

“P-Petra! Here, let me show you the way,” Ashe signalled, Petra following his lead. “Actually Petra, there’s an easy way to figure out a way out of the town. If you just follow these landmarks here, you’ll be out of here in no time.”

Following the land marks as Ashe said, they successfully made their way out of town and began their trek back to Garreg Mach. “I was not knowing those landmarks were there. Thank you for teaching me a special secret of the commoners, Ashe,” Petra beamed. “I am liking this forbidden knowledge.”

“Ah, it’s not a special secret, really,” Ashe sweatdropped. “Honestly, I kind of feel bad for you. I can’t imagine why Dorothea wouldn’t show up. You two are good friends, are you not?”

“We are,” Petra nodded. “But I think I have understanding. Sometimes things happen. Dorothea was quite excited, telling me how the sweets at that shop are delightful. I am not a very big fan of sweets, but I still have appreciation,” conversed Petra as they stepped onto the bridge leading towards Garreg Mach.

“I totally understand. Not everything is for everyone after all, but I always try to appreciate the food I get no matter what. I know I wasn’t exactly a fan of last night’s dinner, for example, but I still enjoyed it as best I could.”

“Oh? You are not liking the Rabbit Skewers?” Petra asked curiously.

“Not exactly, no. Maybe it’s the way they’re cooked, but they’re a bit too tough for my liking. The taste isn’t anything to write home about either,” Ashe admitted.

“Oh Ashe,” sighed Petra, a frown adorning her face. Ashe wasn’t sure he liked that look. “I am thinking we must be fixing your taste buds as soon as we can,” Petra mused, a smile tugged at her lips. Before they knew it, the duo found themselves past the gates at Garreg Mach leading into the Entrance hall.

“I am thankful for your company, Ashe. I learned a secret technique of the commoners today, so I have gratitude for that too,” Petra bowed in farewell. “But for now, I shall be finding Dorothea and seeing if she is well.”

Ashe placed the two bags on the ground. “P-Petra, wait!” Ashe blurted out when she turned her back.

“Yes, Ashe? Is there something wrong?” she looked back incredulously.

“Ah, it’s about that bow. You don’t have to be so formal about saying goodbye, you know” Ashe frowned.

“Formal?” Petra blinked. “But that is how I normally farewell people” Petra explained, leaning her cheek onto her hand in thought. “If you are believing there is a problem, then how should I be saying goodbye?” asked, putting Ashe in for a loop. Ashe contemplated it for a moment, but he couldn’t quite put it into words.

“Uh, well, you could just wave as you go. That’s what I usually do when I say farewell to people. Or…” Ashe trailed off stopping himself from blurting out something out embarrassing, if the fact he was blushing ever so slightly didn’t give it away immediately.

Petra tilted her head. “Or?”

“Ah, don’t worry about it. Just a wave will do- but please don’t feel like you have to change something as small as a goodbye on my account if bowing is normal for you.”

Petra squinted her eyes for her eyes widened, smacking a fist down against the open palm of her opposite hand, as if she just figured something out. “I am seeing the meaning! It is a code!”

Ashe reeled back in confusion. “A-A code? What are you getting at Petra?”

“It is okay Ashe, I have understanding now,” she grinned. “You are not wanting me to bow, and you are wishing for me to wave, yes?”

“U-uh, yes...?”

“Then you said ‘or’ and now you are trying to hide the truth from me. So that must be meaning there’s a secret- and I am thinking I have figured it out,” Petra grinned taking a step towards him.

“Petra, there’s really no secret…!”  
  
Ashe gasped in surprise, his body frozen in place. One moment she was standing before him, the next Petra’s arms were wrapped around his neck. The wonderful, light smell of lavender perfume invaded his nose, his heart began to beat fast and faster and _oh Goddess above was that what he thought it was pressing against his chest?_

Brushing such a thought aside, if only because of instinct and an unwillingness to be rude (as Ashe rationalised it) he lightly wrapped his arms around Petra’s waist. The two stood there for a few moments before they broke off the hug, Ashe was stunned into silence and trying his hardest to not take notice of the strange looks they were getting from the Knights and monks nearby.

“So? Am I being correct in my deducing? It may not be curse techniques Brigid, but I’m sure a hug will partly suffice for our bargain” Petra smiled ever so innocently.

Ashe rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, I was going to say that I didn’t mean anything by saying ‘or’, Petra,” Ashe explained, bracing himself for Petra’s reaction.

“Oh. I see…”

"Wait!” Ashe exclaimed seeing her expression fall as he expected. “Don’t get me wrong. I-I was only going to say that because I didn’t want to make things weird. But... it was nice. I really liked it. And I wouldn’t mind if we did it, uh… more often.”

“Oh! I am feeling relief you feel that way. I had fears… uh, feared that you were not comfortable. My apologies for not asking first,” Petra apologised, bowing to Ashe. The Gaspard heir sighed and chuckled at the bewildered Princess before she understood what he did. “Oh! My mistake. I am sorry Ashe,” Petra apologised, her cheeks tinted with red. She reached over towards him and gave another quick hug, this time faster than Ashe could react.

“Well, I shall be going now. Farewell Ashe, and thank you for your company!” she exclaimed, quickly jogging back towards the dining hall.

  
“Uh… bye Petra…” Ashe mumbled awkwardly. Watching her disappear from the dining hall and towards where the pond was, Ashe picked up the bags of supplies and headed towards the supply shed.

“So. Another not-date, huh?”

Ashe’s head shot up to meet a familiar redhead standing at the door to the main hall. Sylvain folded his arms and grinned from one ear to another at Ashe.

Great.

Just his luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's done. 
> 
> Finally.
> 
> Also, I promise to fix up the formatting ASAP.
> 
> Read, Review and have a good one.


	2. Verdant Rain Moon Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A week to the day before they leave for Conand Tower: Annette blows up the kitchen, Linhardt's acting stranger than usual and the Professor is insistent on giving him a rather specific odd job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know. Another chapter a week after the first, crazy right? Will this become commonplace? Idk, but we'll see.
> 
> I actually put in a small reference to an Ashe Week prompt entirely by accident in this chapter. See if you can pick up on what it is.

It’d been a week since Sylvain last made even a mention of Petra to Ashe, and equally as long since Ashe had the opportunity to speak to her. 

Ever since the news of their next mission was made known to the Blue Lions, the class had been in an unusual state of unrest. Sylvain seemed significantly more reckless during training from what Ashe could observe. He wasn’t astute with another weapon outside of the bow, but something about Sylvain’s stance with the lance rubbed him the wrong way.

‘Too tense’ was the conclusion he came to in his amateur opinion.

This eventually pissed Felix off (partly for the reason Ashe suspected, to his surprise), which pissed off Ingrid for Felix’s insensitivity, which made Dimitri upset at their fighting, which made Dedue upset (even if he didn’t show it), which made Mercedes tirelessly bake sweets to try to cheer them all up, which lead to Annette destroying the kitchen helping her.

Again.

And now here he was helping cleaning up their mess- out of his own volition, of course. He felt bad for poor Annette, watching the poor girl try her best and somehow go from making incredibly tasty treats to still somehow burning water in the span of five minutes; not to mention the strange phenomenon of her tripping over barrels.

And besides that, it was going to be his turn to cook with Dedue that evening, and he really had no choice but to clean it as soon as he could before the Duscurian man came to learn as much as he could. He’d heard of Dedue’s skill in cooking from both Mercedes and Flayn long before he ever ate a meal made by the man. He quickly found out that their statements that his food was some of the best they’d eaten in a long time were not exaggerated. The more time Dedue could focus on clean than cooking, the more opportunity there was to learn.

“Ashe, Mercie I’m so, so sorry, I did this! I don’t know how I managed to do this again, it’s just one thing leading to another and…”

“Oh Annie,” Mercedes gracefully interrupted Annette, in a way that was really only possible for Mercedes to pull off. “It’s okay. We’ll just have to make sure to try harder for this to not happen again next time.” 

“Really Annette, it’s fine, I promise,” Ashe reassured the young noblewoman, even if he knew it wouldn't count for much in her eyes

“Aw, Mercie, Ashe,” Annette sighed. “You two are too good for me,” she frowned, her reaction sounding very much like an Annette apology.

Mercedes shook her head. “Oh don’t be like that. You wouldn’t be my best friend if I believed that," she said truthfully.

Ashe nodded. “I can agree with that at the very least. And besides, I need to prepare the kitchen for cooking duty tonight, so it’s not like I have anywhere else to be. Call it a happy coincidence that this happened, Annette," Ashe so kindly reassured the redhead.

Annette weakly smiled as she threw another set of rags into the bin and some scraps of food into the compost bin.

“Aw, thanks you two. I’m just glad I have you two to help me. Who knows how long this would’ve taken on my own… Oh no!” Annette exclaimed in sudden alarm. “Mercie!”

“Yes Annie?” Mercedes replied calmly.

“Was it my turn to water the plants in the greenhouse today?!” panicked Annette, her expression looking as if it would fall into despair at any second.

Mercedes hummed in thought for a moment. “I believe so. Why, did you…?”

“I need to go, sorry Mercie, sorry Ashe!” Annette exclaimed hurriedly, dashing out of the kitchen and towards the greenhouse with a new found energy. While the source wasn't a particularly good one for the poor girl on the one hand, seeing her wanting to work instead of sulk around gave them some relief. Mercedes and Ashe looked at each other for a moment before they burst into a fit of chuckles. 

“Oh Annie. She never rests, that one.”

“I’m surprised,” Ashe replied. “She’s always working so hard on her academics and she still finds time to do her given chores and other activities on her own. She really is amazing.”

Mercedes’ face glowed brightly with pride in her best friend's complemented ability. “She really is, isn’t she? She’s come so far from the School of Sorcery. I’m really proud of her...”

“Well then. This is certainly interesting,” a new voice interjected. The two Blue Lions spun around to meet two of the Black Eagles standing at the doorway- Caspar and Linhardt. Their eyes wandered around the kitchen in both surprise and curiosity, staring at the mess of rags and various foods discarded to be used for anything but human consumption.

“Let me guess, Annette blew up the kitchen again, didn’t she?” was Linhardt's immediate conclusion. Mercedes and Ashe weren't sure either to be impressed Linhardt surmised that from one glance or sorry for Annette that her tendency to cause kitchens to explode had already made her reputation exceed her.

“Oh she totally did, didn’t she?” Caspar’s voice boomed in laughter. “Oh! Uh, not that it’s a bad thing, it’s just that uh…” Caspar quietened down, noticing the gaze Mercedes was sending his way, one of mixed emotional signals; a rarity considering Mercedes and angry often didn’t belong in the same sentence.

“Ah, sorry…” Caspar awkwardly coughed.

Ashe cleared his throat. “To answer your question Linhardt- yes, that’s more or less what happened,” Ashe awkwardly chuckled. “Thankfully no one was hurt.”

“Indeed,” Mercedes nodded. “But more importantly, are you okay Caspar?” the holy woman asked the young Bergliez second son, her tone betraying her earlier expression.

Linhardt interjected for him. “Well, a certain someone I know- Caspar, thought to get into a fight earlier today with people taller than him and got pain and bandages to show for it,” Linhardt explained. “Funnily enough, Hilda actually put those bandages on Caspar and took care of his other little wounds in the infirmary. I’m still surprised she put in that much effort for… well, anything or anyone at all to be quite frank.”

Mercedes and Ashe's expressions matched the surprise Linhardt spoke of.

“I’m right here you know,” Caspar grumbled. “I can answer questions myself.”

“I know,” Linhardt yawned. “But regardless, getting right to the point,” Linhardt cleared his throat, signalling for Caspar to pull in three barrels from outside the kitchen entrance. “The professor asked us- and by us I mean mostly Caspar and Raphael, to go down by town and get some various meats for the rest of the moon. I’ll assume that you two will know what to do with this, yes?” Linhardt asked them, Mercedes being the first to speak up. 

“But of course. Thank you for your hard work, you two.”

“Your welcome, Mercedes,” Caspar grinned with a thumbs up.

“You give me praise but in reality I was mere deadweight,” Linhardt shook his head. “But do give Raphael your thanks should you see him.”

Ashe walked over to the barrels and opened them up to find what Linhardt exactly described: barrels of poultry, wild game and Duscur Bear showered in salt to preserve them for as long as possible.

“Just meat? No fish?” Ashe asked incredulously. 

Linhardt shook his head. “None. The market was seemingly fresh out of it at the time,” Linhardt explained, trailing off.

“Actually,” Linhardt began again, his gaze fixed on Ashe in seemingly deep thought. “We actually did pass by a rather large lake in a surprisingly beautiful clearing on our way back. It’s bit off to the side of the main road, but it’s close enough to Garreg Mach where it’s safe. In fact, I’ve heard that some other variants of fish that aren’t found in Garreg Mach’s pond can actually be found there, which is where some of the town’s vendors catch their own to sell- but I hear it can be quite difficult and time consuming, so you won’t often find anyone there,” Linhardt rubbed his chin, speaking in a very direct manner towards Ashe that caught him off guard.

“R-really now?” Ashe shifted uncomfortably, leaning against a kitchen counter to support himself. Something about what Linhardt said was giving him serious Deja Vu, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it in the moment. 

“Mhm. I’ve discussed the idea with the professor, our local fishing expert on going there, but she seems to be against it. Not that I’d have any idea why,” Linhardt yawned. “Just something to think about I suppose. If I was motivated to fish as I am motivated to study, I might be half tempted to get some for us, but I’m sure that there are some of us here that are better at that than I am. Don’t you agree Ashe?”

Linhardt didn't look away from Ashe when he finished speaking, the former's blank expression unmoving. And even still, the expression on Linhardt's face betrayed some sort of underlying implication behind his words. Ashe didn't know why, but the stare felt deliberate, like there was a point he should be getting. Though there was a place his mind began to wander to, Ashe stopped himself, if only to save himself from falling into a rabbit hole of thoughts and feelings he didn't want to get into in the moment.

"I don't get it," Caspar scratched his head. "Why not just get some fish from the pond here at the monastery? I mean it's not like they've suddenly just gone away, right?"

"That is because they have."

Everyone in the room glanced to the kitchen doorway in surprise, Caspar having jumped two feet into the air as Dedue made his presence known.

“Well, at least the remaining mature ones have,” he quickly elaborated, placing a large bucket on a kitchen counter.

“Ah, Dedue!” Mercedes exclaimed happily. “You’re here just in time.” For a split second, Ashe swore he saw the corner of Dedue’s lips tug ever so slightly into a tiny smile as his gaze settled on Mercedes.

“It seems I am,” Dedue remarked curiously, looking around the kitchen. “Is it safe to assume...” he begins again, eyes still wandering around the room. “Annette?”

“Um, yes. But don’t worry about her, she’s fine.” Ashe sweatdropped at Dedue’s accurate deduction, being the second one to do it that afternoon. Even with the lengths they went to clean the kitchen until it sparkled, Dedue still had the eyes of a hawk. Thankfully, the Duscurian man only silently shook his head, the smile no longer on his face, but it was clear he was thankful Annette was okay.

“I see. Well, I can only hope that the Fisherman’s Bounty Ashe and I shall prepare today will suffice in cheering her up.”

“Oh yes, I’m sure it will,” Mercedes said happily, motioning for Linhardt and Caspar to leave. “Come along now you two, let’s give them the space they need.” Mercedes stopped for a moment to look at Dedue. “I’m sure you’ll do great, Dedue! You too, Ashe!” Mercedes brightly like an angel from heaven.

“We’ll try our best to live up to your expectations, Mercedes,” Ashe reassured. Dedue was more modest, a nod being more than enough to send the message across- though the expression across his features changed- if only a little.

“I concur with Ashe. We will try our best.”

Linhardt and Caspar quickly filed out of the kitchen at Mercedes’ persistence. The nun soon took her exit after them, her shoulder brushing up against Dedue’s arm, their respective limbs twitching from the other’s touch.

Ashe knew better than to be intrusive, so he didn't dare ask anything about it.

"W-well, let’s get started then, shall we Dedue?”

“Yes. Let’s hope there is enough to go around. I’m afraid the professor has exhausted the fish supply in the pond…”

Ashe’s mouth dropped in a mix of shock and confusion, trying to contemplate that their pond would be out of fish. Explaining the situation in more detail to Ashe, the silver haired boy took on a more calm, contemplative expression, but ultimately still found the situation rather amusing. 

“So the professor fished so much in her free time that all of the fish fit for eating from the pond have all but disappeared? I’m not sure whether to find that amusing or sad to be honest… no offence to the professor,” Ashe chuckled. He knew the professor was a presence to behold on the battlefield, as if she were blessed by the Goddess for battle, but little quirky things like this kept her grounded and made her more… human, even in spite of her seeming lack of emotion.

“It is hard to believe, yes. But when she gave me this bucket, the man assigned to run the fishing at the pond scolded her for having to close it down for some time. Now the professor’s only now seemed to realise it’s become quite a concern. We now have to find alternate sources for fish, and it’s going to take money out of the limited budget she receives from the Church,” Dedue explained to Ashe, pulling out various pans and placing them carefully over a heated stovetop, letting the heat work its magic on them.

“I’m sure Seteth is going to be happy to hear that, huh?” The thought of Seteth scolding the Professor for a lack of fish of all things made Ashe find it difficult to hide his mirth as he pulled out the spices and vegetables for dinner.

“I have no doubt. Even though the professor did mention trying to find some from the fresh water lake just outside Garreg Mach to ease things on her financially, she seems to believe that there’s not enough fish that swim from upstream to feasibly feed the people that live in the monastery; not accounting for their lack of size either.” 

“I suppose that makes sense,” Ashe replied, beginning to cut up the vegetables as Dedue prepared the fish. The room became silent as the pair focused on their cooking before Ashe thought of a question to ask his classmate.

“Dedue?”  
  
“Yes, Ashe?”  
  
“What is the best way to cook the fish? You seem to know a lot, so I’d like to learn some pointers.”

Dedue looked down at the fish he was preparing, quickying finishing it off, pushing it to the side and placing another fish on the cutting board. “As you can see, at this time of year, the fish are fat. Though we are making a stew tonight, simply grilling them will bring out their best flavour. Steaming them with herbs is delicious too,” the man explained.

“Wow. I never thought to steam fish. You really seem to know a lot about this Dedue, I’m learning so much from you. Were you a cook at the castle in Fhirdiad?”  
  
“No,” he bluntly replied.

“Did your family own an eatery of some kind…?”

“No,” he said once again. “My sister and I helped with cooking at home.”

Ashe was, quite frankly, blown away. Even with all the years he helped his parents at their old restaurant, he never felt like he stacked up to Dedue’s cooking ability, and the older man learned most of all he knew from cooking at home. “Wow, that’s all? I thought I was confident about my skills, but next to you I feel like an amateur. Hey, could you give me some advice about other kinds of meat, besides fish?”

Dedue furrowed his brow at Ashe’s excitement. “Ashe.”

“Yes, Dedue?”

“Why do you spend time with me?”

Ah. This conversation piece. He’d wondered when such a conversation would come up with him, after overhearing it when he spoke with Mercedes at the Cathedral.

Ashe smiled at him. “Well, we’re friends, right?”

Friends.

That word repeated in his head a multitude of times for the rest of their conversation and the remaining time they had to prepare for dinner that night.

“You are a peculiar person.”

Ashe couldn’t hold back a small chuckle. “So I’m told! But up until recently, I always didn’t like the sound of being called that. Now I am taking it in stride.” It certainly wasn’t the first time he’d been called peculiar. Lonato, Christophe, Dimitri, Sylvain, the Professor…

Petra.

He’d heard it so many times but it was only up until recently when _she_ called him such a word that it didn’t seem to phase him as much anymore, strange as it sounded even to Ashe.

_“I have understanding if you are not comfortable with my wording. But all I am trying to say is that you are unique, that there is being no other Ashes in the world like you, Ashe; and that is a wonderful thing.”_

“I see,” Dedue nodded with a quirked up eyebrow. “That’s quite the positive outlook on it. I’m glad Petra has been a positive influence on you Ashe, especially after what happened two moons ago.”

Ashe smiled. “Thank you, Dedue. It… it’s been tough dealing with Lonato’s passing, but I’m just glad my brother and sister are doing well. Actually, I plan on investigating...” Ashe trailed off, before his knife froze against the carrot. He processed what Dedue said moments ago in his head a multitude of times over, the knife falling out of his hand and his opposite hand letting go of the carrot. Ashe glanced straight at Dedue’s profile in reddened despair.

“Oh, not you too, Dedue,” Ashe groaned, leaning over the bench, head slumped towards the counter instead. “Don’t tell me, Sylvain said something didn’t he?”

“No,” Dedue said immediately, having regretted mentioning it entirely. “It was His Highness who spoke of this to me.”

Ashe blinked at the unexpected culprit. His Highness? He already knew? Did he find out first? Did _he_ tell Sylvain? Was Dimitri the bird that Sylvain alluded to all the time ago? So many questions swirled in Ashe’s head with not enough answers.

“His- His Highness? I see. Do you think he told Sylvain too by any chance?”

Dedue sighed. “His Highness isn’t one for idle gossip. He may have had reason to believe that you and Petra were involved in some way and also assumed that I was aware of such a thing,” Dedue explained to Ashe. “As such, I would not be surprised if Sylvain and the Professor knew, at the very least.” The room became eerily quiet as Dedue let Ashe think about the implications behind Dedue’s words with more questions jumping to mind.

Did anyone else in the Blue Lions know? Did anyone else in the monastery know? The question crossed his mind, and then what Linhardt said was thrown to the forefront of his mind. 

No. That had to be a coincidence.

“We’re not like that, really!” Ashe exclaimed, waving his hands in front of Dedue, emphasising his denial. “She just wants to see what the commoner life is like, really, it’s not at all like that!”

Dedue hummed. “I see. My mistake then. Regardless, it is a good thing she is your friend. You two get along well.”

Friend.

The same phrase lingered like a persistent fly at various points during dinner later that night, when even unbeknownst to him, his gaze constantly landed on the back of the Black Eagles’ foreign princess.

_“I am here to see a classmate.”_

All the while Ashe’s mind wandered back to that day- and why that line had begun to bother him so much.  
  


* * *

The day before they were to leave for Conand Tower, to Ashe’s surprise, the professor was actually somewhere outside of her classroom, living quarters and the pier for once. Approaching the familiar figure in Garreg Mach’s marketplace, Ashe was pleasantly surprised to find his professor toiling over a floral arrangement consisting of a single type of beautiful flower that shone brightly in her hands. The arrangement, much like the others she had seen her hand off to other students and faculty, had a unique spin for the student she was to give them to. Unlike her last arrangement, her current one was filled with strikingly purple flowers- and only that. His Professor placed her coins in the stall owner’s hands, in exchange for the single flower arrangement. Ashe was certainly no expert on flowers, so out of sheer curiosity, he approached his teacher who’d somehow sensed his presence when she turned on her heel to face Ashe.

“Hello, Ashe,” the professor greeted him in the flat voice she usually spoke in off the battlefield.

“G-good morning Professor!” Ashe exclaimed, reeling back a little in surprise. Quickly forcing himself to recover, Ashe broke eye contact and glanced at the bouquet in her hands. “That’s quite the floral arrangement you’ve got there, professor. Completely different from the last one if I recall.”

A ghost of a smile graced the Professor’s lips. “Well, it certainly wouldn’t do to have flowers that match Leonie’s personality with Dedue’s bouquet, would it?”

Ashe chuckled at the thought of Dedue receiving bright orange flowers. “I suppose not. The colour scheme of that other bouquet doesn’t seem very… ‘Dedue’ to me. But this one,” Ashe trailed off, staring at the new bouquet, “this one seems very… well, ‘Dedue’ for a lack of a better term.”

“How observant of you Ashe. That’s because it is,” the professor confirmed. “The entirety of the bouquet is nothing but Violets, as they represent loyalty, devotion, faithfulness, modesty.”

“How aptly named,” Ashe smiled. “And you’re right, now that you mention it. Dedue is definitely all of those things. He’s been loyal, devoted and has had complete faith in His Highness for years. And yet he’s so modest- always downplaying his own abilities as a cook and as a capable soldier on the battlefield.”

The Professor hummed. “Agreed. I do generally wish he thought more highly of himself. Though he has been thinking otherwise as of late, I do wonder if this will help some more…”

Ashe shook his head. “You might be unsure, but I’m absolutely sure Dedue will absolutely love them.”

“Oh, I have no doubt he will, since he won’t be receiving them from me.”

Ashe blinked and blanked out for a moment. “You… won’t? But why not Professor?”

“You’ve seen it too, haven’t you? Dedue and Mercedes have had some… well, interesting developments as of late. I’m only wanting to push them along, so to speak,” the Professor explained to Ashe, who’d connected the dots soon after. It made sense really. The lingering gazes during breakfast and dinner, Dedue spending more time in the cathedral, Mercedes spending more time in the garden, Dedue by some miracle being able to replicate Mercedes’ secret recipe to a tee (especially to Annette’s shock) and Mercedes creating a savoury dish that didn’t go horribly wrong.

He always had his suspicions, but the thought of having them confide in each other made Ashe happy; because they deserved a little happiness of their own too.

“Well, I’m glad for them- and for you that you’re willing to help them, Professor. I don’t really know much about their pasts- the details at least, but I think it’s fair to say that they deserve some happiness.”

“Always looking out for everyone but yourself, aren’t you Ashe?” the Professor mused, staring at the bouquet, then back at the stall.

“Now that is something that I’ve been told before… um Professor? Is something wrong?”

The professor hummed, squinting at the flowers at the stall, darting her head back around to Ashe. The Professor loomed over him with a soul piercing gaze that always intimidated him. Placed on his back foot, Ashe shifted back, standing up straight to meet her gaze. The Professor leaned back away from Ashe with a tiny smile.

“I think that will do.”

“I… I’m sorry? What will do, Professor?” a stumped Ashe tried to comprehend her odd behaviour. 

“Did you know that it is Petra's birthday soon, Ashe?"

He _didn't_ know that. But the fact that he knew now made him feel a certain way. "O-oh? Really?"

The professor nodded, her expression not shifting otherwise. "Petra’s birthday is after Dedue’s, soon after we get back from Conand Tower to be more specific,” The professor elaborated bluntly. Ashe couldn't help but feel a strange weight fall on his shoulders as she spoke. “And of course, I won’t have much time to think about making her bouquet when we get back, much less having the time to conceptualise one for her in the first place. You know how prickly Seteth can be with reports and such,” the professor explained. “With that being said, and I know this may sound sudden, but could you make one and give it to her on my behalf?” 

Ashe stared slack-jawed at his Professor, whose face had turned up into a sly grin

She knew. Oh Goddess above, she really knew. And she was _messing_ with him for it. Dedue wasn’t wrong after all.

Dimitri _must’ve_ said something.

Ashe’s face warmed. “W-why me?!”

The Professor tilted her head, feigning confusion by his sudden outburst. “Well, out of the Blue Lions, you’re the closest to Petra, are you not?”

“W-well, I can see your point, but I don’t see why you can’t get Dorothea or Edelgard to do that for her?” Ashe sputtered, trying his hardest to come up with counterpoints on the fly. “And besides, like I keep saying, she’s just curious about life as a commoner, and I’m showing her what it’s like on the streets. I promise you it’s nothing that special.” Ashe crossed his arms, trying his hardest to smile to reassure his Professor that she was looking for the wrong person for the job. “Besides, I’d hardly think she considers me a friend- a classmate at best, really.”

The older woman hummed, her face leaning into the open palm of her hand in thought. “Didn’t you say before you wish to help in any way you could? Besides, I do recall you telling me about how you liked seeing your younger brother and sister smile. Don’t you like seeing others smile too?”

“W-well,” Ashe stuttered, nearly at a loss for words. “I agree that I like seeing others smile. That much is true, but I just don’t think I’m cut out for a task like this is all Professor.”

The Professor shook her head, reaching into the bouquet. “Oh Ashe… Here,” the Professor closed the gap between them, a hand in Dedue’s bouquet pulling out a small Violet, passing it off into Ashe’s hand. “Consider this to be officially your sole assigned task for the first week of the next moon. I’ll personally see to it that your assigned chores are completed. Good luck, Ashe.”

The adopted Gaspard son didn’t get another word out to the Professor before she walked off behind him, Ashe utterly stumped. The eerily quiet atmosphere that had settled in over the monastery's marketplace gave him a moment to reflect over what just happened.

And what's worse is that no one would believe him if he ever told them he saw the expression the professor gave him before she sauntered off. The sheer second hand embarrassment he felt thinking of the looks he’d receive giving a whole bouquet to Petra like he were Sylvain made him shrink away and slump over, staring holes through the soft Violet in his hands. On top of that, the Professor and most of, if not all of the Blue Lions were under the impression they were… involved in spite of his insistence otherwise. The gaze Linhardt sent his way when he was last on kitchen duty suggested that he assumed as such. Ashe further rationalised that Edelgard and Dorothea presumably being in the know was a safe assumption since they were close with Petra. 

Thankfully, no one from the Golden Deer seemed to be aware of anything pertaining to him and Petra, but should Hilda find out...

He knew it’d be over for him.

As Ashe dragged himself along towards his room as afternoon slowly began to settle into night. The young man flopped onto his bed, staring into the ceiling above and sinking into his bed’s soft embrace

“Maybe I’m just overthinking it,” Ashe blurted out to no one in particular. The eerie silence of his room offered no reply in spite of his need for one. “Yeah. It’s really not that big of a deal, right? It’s just a bouquet. It’s just a girl. It’s just Petra. No big deal. Right!”

Ashe hummed, a satisfied smile quirked up on his lips as he closed his eyes. “Yeah. It’ll be fine, Ashe, just fine. Give her the bouquet and go. It’s easy as that,” Ashe reaffirmed, but immediately second-guessed himself. “Then again...” Ashe trailed off, his monologuing interrupted by a sharp yawn. With a quiet hum and no will to fight back, his eyes fluttered shut and his body succumbed to sleep no thanks to his comfortable bed. Though he hadn’t realised he’d fallen asleep, the sudden appearance of Petra before him in the Entrance Hall just like the week before took over his dreams and became the least of his concerns.

Ashe tried to call out to the dream-like figure of Petra standing before him, but she kept her eyes trained on him, as if she hadn’t heard him speak.

_“Petra? Is that really you? What’s wrong- ah!_ ” Ashe tried to call out to her again, but on a dime Petra had thrown her arms around him and pulled him into a hug seemingly without a second thought; as if the memory was playing on replay in his dreams. Unconsciously, his nose twitched at the faint smell of lavender that wafted into his nose in spite of her lack of presence; even more alarmingly, the memory of the warmth he felt when he was in such close proximity to her vividly resurfaced as quickly as the smell of her lavender perfume did, the form of his blushing red face, sweat trickling down his forehead.

The shine of her well taken care of hair made his hand twitch, as if wanting so desperately to run his hand through it, to tangle his hand in the braids that she meticulously tied together every morning.

And the smile on her face, as bright as the sun itself, an innocent radiance that he just couldn’t look away from. All the memories triggered a full serving of a fastened and nervous heartbeat, sweaty hands and a hot face.

_“Ashe…” she whispered, pressing her forehead to his, arms wrapping around his neck; something his dream self wasn’t prepared for- something new._

_“P-Petra?”_

_“Ashe...” she whispered her lips so close to his..._

“Ashe!”

Sitting up in a frenzy of gasps and coughs, Ashe stared at the entrance of his room. The door vibrated with every knock a little more than normal, a dead giveaway away it was Dimitri that snapped him out of his dream.

Even if Ashe didn't realise it, he yearned to go back to his dream.

“Ashe? Are you there?”

“Y-your Highness...? W-wait, Your Highness?!” Ashe exclaimed, tumbling out of his bed and dashing for his bedroom door in a panicked frenzy. Opening the door, Ashe was met with Dimitri standing before him concern strewn across his face when Ashe’s face came into full view.

“Oh, Ashe! I was wondering where you… Ashe? What on earth happened to you?” Dimitri’s eyes widened.

“N-nothing at all, really! M-more importantly, what are you- why are you here Your Highness?”

Dimitri cast a glance at Ashe that shifted from pure concern to a mix of disbelief. “Well, I came here to fetch you so that we could all have dinner together. If you can believe it, Felix is actually sitting with us, so I didn’t want to pass up this opportunity to eat with the entire house together,” Dimitri explained. “But evidently, you don’t look well at all, Ashe. Perhaps I ought to walk you to the infirmary to see to it that you get some medicine of some kind…”

“No!” Ashe explained before clearing his throat. “Um, what I mean is- no, it’s fine. I’m feeling a bit under the weather, yes, but I really don’t need to go to the infirmary- much less you having to escort me, Your Highness.”

Dimitiri sighed and crossed his arms. “Ashe.”

“Y-yes, Your Highness?”

“You’re doing it again…”

Ashe sighed. “I know Your High- Dimitri, I really do, it’s just…”

Dimitri shook his head. “I’d certainly be remiss if I didn’t at least see how you were feeling, considering you are the only one of our house missing, but don’t worry about such matters for now. If you are in fact feeling alright, then please, do consider eating with us Ashe.”

“I… I suppose so,” Ashe relented. He wasn’t exactly sick by any means, even if he looked the part. But he knew why. He just couldn’t get _her_ out of his head no matter how hard he tried. Even as he sat down to converse with his fellow Blue Lions, just between the shoulders of Mercedes and Ingrid, Ashe caught a glimpse of her at the table on the other side of the room, her hair still done up in the braids she paid careful mind to tie every day. 

_‘I wonder how she does it…?’_

Someone at the Black Eagles table must have said, or done something amusing as Petra let out a hearty laugh. Petra dug into her portion of the Fisherman’s Bounty and smiled in delight, the same blinding smile he dreamed of rising up on her face. Ashe didn’t look away from her, perfectly content to gaze upon her expression, knowing she enjoyed the food. That was, until she looked around the room, as if she sensed someone’s eyes on her. In a moment of weakness, Ashe froze upon locking eyes with Petra’s. Petra’s smile faltered into something a little less the one she displayed moments ago, accompanied by a small wave.

Pulling his eyes away and tilting his head down to his food as fast as he could, Ashe thought he might pass out from the heat that covered his face to the tips of his ears. As he internally reprimanded himself, a question occurred to Ashe as he stabbed and moved the food on his plate around, recalling the expression on her face.

_‘Why did she look so… nervous?’_

Ashe shook his head. It had to be a coincidence. After all, there was no way _Petra_ of all people was nervous. She was one of the most level headed people in the monastery, and extremely mature for someone close to his age; Ashe knowing especially that he conversely made a fool of himself often.

After all what kind of knight was scared of _ghosts_?

Ashe sighed, in utter defeat. _‘Look at what you’ve done now, Ashe. Petra must’ve been so weirded out by your staring.’_

“Ashe?” Ingrid spoke up, seeing Ashe grip the bridge of his nose. Thankfully, his blushing had begun to subside when he moved his gaze towards Ingrid’s. “Are you feeling okay? You haven’t been eating much tonight…”

“Oh, it’s nothing, really. I’ve just been thinking about… things, is all,” Ashe reassured the aspiring knight. “I have a lot on my mind when it comes to my studies. It kind of makes it hard to think about anything else, really,” Ashe trailed off trying his best to dodge the subject of the mission they were to leave for tomorrow, and not wanting Ingrid to ask anymore questions 

“Well, as long as you’re taking breaks and getting adequate rest, I’m sure you’ll be just fine, Ashe,” Mercedes smiled, Ashe now on the receiving end of a reassuring smile. He half expected Sylvain to speak up with a witty comment, but Ashe was surprised to see him staring out towards the Black Eagles table, his eyes flickering towards to and from the diva who took no notice of him; his sad smile was also quite unbecoming of the usually flirty man.

Ingrid and Mercedes, and soon the remaining Blue Lions soon took notice of this, quickly remembering that they’d begin their journey to Conand Tower tomorrow. Soon an awkward blanket of air settled in over the table as they ate in silence surrounded by happier chatter.

Ashe was thankful the mood was brightened rather quickly, if only at the expense of an embarrassed Ingrid, the young woman covering her mouth in sheer embarrassment after letting out a loud burp. As the giggles, laughter and sarcastic remarks of the Blue Lions joined the rest of the dining hall, Ashe let his eyes brush over Petra’s form one more time as she stood to return her utensils to the kitchen.

Today was a long day, and their journey to Conand Tower tomorrow would be an even longer one.

But later that night, after giving himself some time to reflect over what occurred in the dining hall, Ashe felt a certain calm mixed in with his nervousness when the thought of the odd task he’d been given also crossed his mind.

Ashe knew his body was beginning to wind down, a yawn signalling for him to fall into a deep sleep as Ash leaned into his pillows. The front cover of the book he was reading of a Princess from a far away land holding a small bouquet standing back to back with a knight was the last image he saw before his eyelids fell.

_I wonder if she’ll like them..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be more Petra next chapter, I promise.
> 
> In fact, there'll be a lot more of them interacting next chapter too. After all, it will be rather close to her birthday...
> 
> Also, did you spot it the Ashe Week reference? Congrats if you did the first time, cos I didn't even realise it until I was close to finishing the chapter and it blew my mind when I realised what I did.
> 
> Anyway, read, review and of course, have a good one!


	3. Horsebow Moon Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ashe reminisces on the past in the middle of battle, Petra has tea with Dorothea and meets a new, yet somehow familiar pair of faces.

**8 years ago**

_If he wasn’t playing with his younger siblings, whenever he got the chance, Ashe always volunteered with helping his parents prepare meals in their small and humble restaurant. Seeing the transformation of various ingredients to a complete meal, not unlike the puzzles he and his siblings would put together was a feeling of satisfaction he couldn’t get enough of. The dicing of onions into tiny pieces, grated carrots into tiny strips, pans sizzling loudly as various meats were cooked on them; all these things and more were pure music to his ears._

_Though his family would more often than not purchase food from various merchants, his parents would occasionally hunt for their own food, something he’d grown a great deal of interest in._

_“Father? When can I hunt for food with you and Mother?”_

_Ashe’s father smiled, reaching a hand down to ruffle up Ashe’s hair. “Since when were you so keen, Kiddo?” his father asked curiously, crouching down to be eye level with his son._

_“Well,” Ashe began, staring down at his twiddling thumbs. “Um, well. I wanna help you and Mother more with hunting. When you come back with food, you’re always so happy, so I wanna see what it’s like because I like it when you and Mother are happy,” little Ashe explained to his father. “And I wanna help you more…” Ashe didn’t finish his sentence, interrupted by his father patting his head and pressing a kiss to his son’s forehead._

_“It’s okay Kiddo. You already do so much to help me and your mother already, you know that? Whenever you help us with cooking, our customers always look a little more happier when they know you helped make their food. Because of that, lots of them always come back for more,” his father explained. “Hunting might be a bit… gruesome for you. Maybe when you’re a little bit older you can hunt with us, okay?”_

_Ashe crossed his arms and huffed, more than a little annoyed that he was denied a chance to see what the fuss was about hunting. He refused to make eye contact with his father and pouted to try and make his father feel some form of guilt… Or at least, he tried to. Ashe’s father threw back his head, guffawed by Ashe’s uncharacteristically angry reaction. Ashe groaned at his father’s reaction, his cheeks puffing up and turning red from embarrassment. “Anger is an expression that doesn’t suit you, son. You’d scare your siblings away if they saw you like that. After all, who is supposed to protect them if your mother and I aren’t around?”_

_Ashe looked into his father’s eyes. “Me?”_

_“Of course. Do you remember the story I read to you and your brother and sister?”_

_“The one about Loog? Loog and the Maiden of Wind?”_

_“Yep! That’s the one!” His father grinned, suddenly picking his son up and spinning him around in the air. Ashe gasped and cackled as he felt wind brush against his face before being placed on his father’s shoulders. His father walked them out from their humble abode to a large lake nearby._

_“Ashe. Do you remember the oath Loog swore to in the story?”_

_Ashe contemplated his father’s question for a moment. “Um… to always protect his friends and family?”_

_“Close, but that’s the one! To protect and help his family, friends, and the innocent people around him, no matter what,” he recited. “I want you to promise me something, okay Ashe?” the older man asked his eldest son, his tone of voice turning somber. “If your mother and I are gone for whatever reason, I want you to protect your siblings, Marco and Alyssa as best you can._

_“...Father?” Ashe whispered, his voice faltering. “What’s wrong? Why are you saying you’re going away? Please don’t say that…”_

_His father shook his head adamantly. “No, no, Kiddo. IF we go away. Your Mother and I don’t intend on ever leaving you three alone, ever. But if something were to ever happen to us, I want you to promise me you’ll do whatever you can take care and provide for them- make them happy, okay?”_

_“Only if you promise to not die and leave us all alone. Okay, father?”_

_“Hey, hey, who ever said anything about me dying? That's a bit much don't you think?" asked Ashe's father, surprise apparent in his tone of voice._

_Ashe hunched over and grumbled. "But you made me think sad things. I just don't want you to go away, father. I want us to be a family forever."_

_His father sighed, knowing his son was correct. "Alright then. I promise I won’t die, and we'll be a family forever, Ashe,” his father nodded, gripping his son’s small hands. "I won't bring that up again, okay?"_

_“Okay. Then I promise too, father,” little Ashe smiled, pulling his arms towards his father to hug him. “Maybe I can become a great knight as well! Just like Loog and the other stories you read me!” bubbled Ashe as he let a large smile grow on his face._

_Ashe's father felt his mood brighten immediately. “Well, with your positive attitude, I have no doubt you will. Maybe one day you can get married to a fair maiden like Loog did- or a princess like in the Solis Knight story. I have no doubt my kind and handsome boy will have all the ladies chasing after him!” Ashe’s father howled in laughter, knowing his son would groan in embarrassment and quickly scold him after._

_“Ew! Father, don’t say that, that’s weird!!” Ashe groaned. Letting go of his father’s hands, Ashe gripped his father's hair and tugged on it; Ashe's father flinched upon feeling a twinge on his head._

_“What do you mean?! I only said the truth- hey, hey, settle down Kiddo, I get it. I won’t embarrass you like that again, really.”_

_Ashe crossed his arms. “Liar,” he grumbled._

_“Yeah. I definitely am,” his father snickered. The man looked ahead, spotting the rest of his family already at the lake. His daughter and younger son were already knee deep into the lake’s water, happily splashing water at each other as their mother watched on with content. “Hey, look, how about this Kiddo? We can do some more fishing together, since I know you like it so much. Strictly speaking, I know it’s not hunting like what you want to do, but I know it makes you happy too.”_

_Ashe leaned in against his father’s head, humming in thought. His eyes wandered to his siblings playing together with his mother giggling at their antics before Marco spotted them, pointing excitedly. Ashe looked upon the smiles on their faces, remembering the promise he committed to minutes ago._

_“I think I’d like that, father.”_

* * *

Ashe was spurned out of his daze as the screams of a thief whose arm had been set on fire by Annette. Pushing himself against a wall to cover himself from any incoming attacks and stuffing his pockets with loot from an abandoned chest, Ashe vainly tried his best to push out memories he associated with the tower out of his mind.

Ashe had seen Conand Tower only a few times in his life; in fact, it had only been once he had gotten even remotely close to it. The occasion the sighting had occurred was years ago, when he and his siblings travelled with Lonato and Christophe for a diplomatic conference with Fearghus Lords in Blaiddyd territory. During this time, Christophe had taken the three of them to go exploring for the day on horseback with a former classmate from Garreg Mach, Cassandra. He only got to see a glimpse of the tower before they had to turn back to make it back to their place of residence before sun down, but Ashe understood the sheer size and scale of the impressive tower, even from a distance.

At least, he thought so until today.

The size and scale of Conand Tower was a thing to behold in Ashe’s eyes, but also a pain to his legs, being forced to climb up seemingly infinite flights of stairs to finally reach the top. He wondered how on earth Dedue and Gilbert had managed to climb up all those stairs in that bulky armour of theirs. A question he would’ve contemplated more over had he not been in the middle of battle, and an arrow not flown past his head in a moment of hesitation when he’d peeked out from behind the wall.

Gritting his teeth, Ashe pulled back on the bowstring and let the arrow fly, barely scraping his target’s skull. Even still, the tearing of the skin was enough to cause the thief to flinch and curse in pain, gaining the attention of Sylvain. The red head charged towards the thief, commanding his horse to spin around and slam the thief into the wall with his steed’s hind legs, effectively knocking him out... assuming he wasn’t already dead from the sheer force of the attack.

Sylvain and Ashe locked eyes for a moment. The redhead’s smile lifted up, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Be careful and don’t fall behind, okay Ashe? Wouldn’t want the Princess to have your face get all scarred up would we?” Sylvain winked, his cheeky comment betraying his sad smile that remained poorly hidden. “Imagine that. All of my hard work gone to waste just like that. What a waste.”

Naturally he would object at such a claim, but seeing Sylvain’s normally bright eyes become hollow with every step towards where his brother lay in wait, Ashe let it slide; though the question of just what he meant by his hard work meant lingered in his mind.

Ashe pushed the question aside and pressed on, bow at the ready, venturing forth into the dark center of the tower.

* * *

At the behest of the Professor, the small army had set up camp for the night to allow the tired students and soldiers to recover and recuperate before making their proper return to Garreg Mach. Once the early morning came, they made headway for Garreg Mach. The somber tone of the journey back to Garreg Mach maintained for the final stretch home. Even with their home in sight, the journey was quiet, almost too quiet in some respects. Though Ashe didn’t know why, Dimitri had been repeatedly murmuring something under his breath, of which only the Professor could somehow pick up on. Sylvain held the Lance of Ruin close, the weapon shining lightly in his hands, the older man conflicted by how the battle ended. Dedue and Ingrid couldn’t find it within themselves to comfort Dimitri and Sylvain respectively. Annette was staring off into the distance in the direction of Sir Gilbert, and Mercedes held her close to keep her warm in the cold morning air.

All the while, Ashe hung back behind the carts that were pulling along the sleeping, wounded men that had sustained injuries when Miklan turned into a beast.

The only sound there was to fill the void of silence was sounds of Felix sharpening his sword and the hooves of their horses stamping on the ground as they pulled creaking carts towards their towering home. Such quiet times made Ashe uneasy more often than not, but now it allowed for a time of self-reflection- of what he did during battle, and what he could have done better.

And if he were to be quite frank- that would apply to almost everything, especially his form with the bow above all else. The Professor had repeatedly told him that he’d made great improvements on all fronts when it came to wielding a bow- but the mission at Conand had been a disaster for Ashe in more ways than the weapon he held. Constant missed shots due to his poor form, being too slow on the uptake when ambushed by enemies and constantly having to be saved by his classmates. Ashe couldn’t help but feel as if he were dragging his classmates down- but there was always a little voice in the back of his mind telling him to press forward.

And perhaps it was thanks to that little voice that Ashe was still standing amongst his classmates and not being dragged to an early grave in Gaspard. 

As the monastery and the bridge leading to it came into view, only slightly illuminated by the rising sun, Ashe spotted a small white rabbit peeking its head out from behind a large tree trunk. The rabbit’s gaze moved between various members of the Blue Lions house and their battalions, though none seem to notice its presence… besides Ashe.

When Ashe’s gaze met the rabbit’s, the latter froze, as if ice had frozen the poor animal’s feet. Ashe came to a standstill if only for a brief moment, smiling at the cute little rabbit before it bolted off, running deep into the forest behind him. Ashe watched the little animal dash off away from him, following its movements before Ashe noticed something that caught his eye. On the ground laid a shiny hunting knife amongst the fallen leaves. Strolling carefully over towards it, Ashe picked it up and wiped off the mud and dirt. He furrowed his brows, staring at the inscriptions engraved on its handle he didn’t recognise. Evidently, it was a weapon not native to Fodlan, but somewhere else entirely. Though he was curious as to why he’d stumbled across a hunting knife of all things in what was effectively the middle of nowhere, Ashe placed the knife in his pocket before intending to catch up with the rest of the convoy. 

Just as he began to walk away, something caught his eye deep within the forest that made him pause in his step.

Somewhere in the distant dark of the forest, a single ray of light peeked out between two trees. Driven by a sudden spike of curiosity that settled within him, Ashe carefully wandered into the dim forest. Tuning out the crunch of the leaves beneath him, Ashe kept his eyes locked on where the single ray of light shone through. Soon one more ray appeared nearby, then one after another as Ashe quickly reached a clearing that he’d never seen before.

And Ashe could feel his breath being taken away by the mere sight before him.

In the middle of the dark, dank forest, the sun bore down on a large clearing, filled to the brim with luscious flora of all kinds; some of which were familiar, some he had never laid his eyes upon before. A large lake with crystal clear waters that lead back into the forest, teaming with life within it. A large tree stood its ground in the middle, its tall branches providing adequate shade and luscious green pastures surrounding the lake.

Memories of years past long before his parents died forced their way into Ashe's mind once more, even in spite of keeping them under lock and key in the back of his mind. He could see, if only for a moment, his younger siblings playing together in the shallow end of the lake, with his mother watching them closely and his father off fishing nearby.

The thought disappeared as quickly as it appeared in his mind, and so did the illusion.

Walking into the light, Ashe could feel the early morning sun bear down on his skin like an angel's embrace. The soft hums of nature lured him further to the lake's edge, Ashe staring into the vast lake and spotting a variety of small fish that he had seen at the monastery and some new. Linhardt’s words from days ago came to mind. It seemed he was at the very least being truthful- not that he was one to lie, anyway. Near the edge of the lake, a bed of flowers caught Ashe’s eye even amongst everything that stood before him.

He plucked two from the ground and held them close in his hand. Ashe wondered if it was a coincidence, or perhaps a sign that it was _those_ flowers that bloomed before him; or that everything the light touched reminded him of his old home, the one he yearned for even after Lonato had taken him in.

It was truly a little pocket of heaven.

_“Mama, look! I found a shell!_

_“Father, look! I finally caught a fish!"_

“Ashe!”

The silver haired boy spun on his heels, looking back into the darkened forest. Dimitri and Annette’s voices echoed throughout the forest, calling his name. Ashe hadn’t realised how much time had passed since he’d separated from the group, and Goddess knows they’d be extremely worried about him; after all, they were on edge as is.

Rushing back to meet them on the road back to Garreg Mach, Ashe reunited with Dimitri and Annette, much to their relief before they broke into lectures and scoldings regarding his safety. Though a little overwhelmed at first, Ashe was more than happy to at least two of his classmates in slightly brighter moods now than they had been minutes ago.

Hiding the flowers he picked in the opposite pocket to the broken hunting knife, Ashe could feel his heart begin to beat with a nervous streak as he approached Garreg Mach- the flowers a silent reminder of the task he’d put in the back of his head for so long.

Ashe trailed after Dimitri and Annette, finally making the journey back to Garreg Mach.

For now, he could think about it later. After all, he still had time.

* * *

Petra poked at her food, the knife forcing part of the fish to wobble when the metal prongs brushed up against the membrane. If she were in a better mood, she’d almost find it amusing seeing it shake.

Key word being ‘almost’. The day had certainly taken it’s time, with classes dragging out longer than usual when their teacher, Professor Manuela had stumbled into class while still experiencing the effects of a hangover… as usual. While she didn’t have any particular problems with Manuela herself, Petra found herself to be… lacking in many areas when it came to her studies. Her short term goal towards becoming an assassin- and her perhaps significantly long term goal of becoming a Pegasus Knight, making small towards those goals on both fronts. And while Petra considered herself a diligent student (something she found Edelgard and the rest of the Black Eagles exaggerated in her opinion), she still thought herself to be lacking. It didn’t help she often caught herself contemplating transferring classes, specifically to the Blue Lions. She and Professor Byleth had discussed such an arrangement multiple times. Though Brigid was a vassal state of the Empire, she knew Edelgard would understand such a transfer if it were only for the sake of her studies- after all, she had said so herself. She knew a certain someone felt otherwise, but Petra reassured him that transferring classes didn’t inherently mean a change in allegiances. 

This was her first dilemma. Thankfully, Fisherman’s Bounty was a meal that always brought a smile to her face- a small reminder of home away from home. She happily sunk her fork into her dinner and ate a small up two small pieces of fish, the last of her meal.

Petra raised her head up, ignoring her food for a moment and deciding to focus on the antics currently ensuing at the table - involving Caspar as it usually did. A bewildered expression grew on her face, trying to process why Caspar was drawing on a sleeping Linhardt’s face, but the sight of Linhardt with an awkwardly drawn moustache made Petra let out a hearty laugh along with most of her fellow Black Eagles classmates.

Petra’s gaze moved back towards her dinner, but stopped part way. Across the room at another table, between Mercedes and Ingrid if she recalled correctly, the eyes of one Ashe Ubert bore into hers; otherwise known as her second dilemma.

Petra’s smile fell, turning into one significantly more awkward than before. Petra instinctively pulled up her arm to give a small wave to him when she realised that neither of their gazes seemed to pull away. The gesture made Ashe realise he was staring, hiding his face away from Petra no doubt due to sheer embarrassment.

Petra frowned. Ever since their last outing together, it became increasingly obvious that Ashe had been going out of his way to avoid her- and Petra had to admit that she too was doing the same, though, perhaps for different reasons. Petra suspected that the sudden hug she had sprung on him the week prior had made him find her to be uncomfortable to be around, despite his reassurances it was fine.

For Petra, such a thing was a different story.

“Petra?” The Princess of Brigid looked to her right to speak with Dorothea who had called her name.

“Yes, Dorothea?”

“You still wouldn’t happen to still be okay with my idea from earlier would you? To study together over a cup of tea? As much as I adore Manuela, it’s hard to keep up in class when your Professor is drunk or dealing with a migraine,” Dorothea laughed, failing to hide the hint of sadness in it.

“I am willing,” Petra nodded. “As I am sure you are knowing, my math is... Not strong. Without offense, I am surprised Professor Maneula is knowing such complex calculations.”

Dorothea shook her head. “It’s okay, she’d know you mean well, Petra. After all, I underestimated her like that once, but she’s more than capable of handling herself, as you know.” Dorothea stood to her feet, picking up her tray. “Well, in that case, let us head off shall we?”

Petra excused herself from the table, saying her farewells to her classmates before following after Dorothea back to the kitchen. When the staff took their bowls and utensils, a little voice in the back of her head urged her to look back; of which she did, her eyes momentarily glazing over the silvery mop of hair across the room before she pulled back, following Dorothea back to their rooms to gather their belongings.

Thankfully, Petra found their study time to be significantly more productive now than in class today. Though she knew mathematics was a glaring weakness in terms of her academics, she trusted Dorothea enough to help her through the exercises Maneula had set out for their homework for that weekend; and much to her delight, they found a great deal of success in their studies.

“...Finally. The last one of those exercises done,” Dorothea huffed. “Honestly, I didn’t know when they’d end,” she happily said, slamming the books shut and setting them aside. “Tea, Petra?”

“I would be liking that, Dorothea,” Petra gestured towards her cup, sliding towards Dorothea. Refilled with a personal favourite, the Four-Spice Blend, Petra happily sipped some of her drink before carefully setting the china cup down again.

“But I am agreeing with you, Dorothea. I am glad we have finished our homework. These questions would have been impossible without your assistance. You have my gratitude.” 

“Oh Petra,” Dorothea smiled. “It’s not a problem, I assure you. I’m just glad we could get them over with as soon as we could so we could get to the meat and potatoes of our tea time today,” Dorothea sipped her tea, the sudden tonal change in her voice making Petra shift in her seat.

“Meat and potatoes? Is that some kind of Fodlan saying I am not knowing?”

“It means the basics, or the essentials,” Dorothea explained.

“Is our mathematics not the essentials of our meeting?” asked Petra quizzically.

“Not particularly. At least, not for me. But before that- a question, Petra. Who was it that you were waving at in the dining hall today? It wouldn’t have been a certain knightly boy wonder, would it?”

‘Ah. So this is where Dorothea is taking this’, Petra thought, recalling her previous tea time with Dorothea that ended on a rather embarrassing note.

_Dorothea could barely contain her laughter, covering her mouth and almost knocking over her cup of tea in the process._

_“Dorothea, I am not seeing what is so funny.”_

_“Oh Petra, oh Petra. Do you not know why the poor boy might be so embarrassed?”_

_“...Because I hugged him?”_

_“...Well, yes I suppose that’s one thing, but do you not know what I’m referring to?”_

_“No,” Petra shook her head. “Please be telling me, Dorothea. I am lost on what you are trying to say...”_

_Dorothea sighed and explained the situation to Petra, whose face went uncharacteristically red- a strange sight for someone who was always so composed._

_“Oh. I am seeing your point," Petra blushed. "In Brigid, it is common for one to be assigning whether or not a friend is a man or a woman before saying 'friend' in… what was the word… Platonic relationships,” Petra explained. “I am knowing of its alternate meaning in the Fodlan language, which is why I am simply saying ‘friend’, but I suppose such a thing did not occur to me at the time. I cannot help but wonder how Ashe is feeling because of my error…”_

“I see. You are wanting to speak about him again,” Petra cautioned.

Dorothea cooed “So you _were_ waving at him. How cute!”

Petra shook her head. “Dorothea, please have understanding,” she began, a little more serious than before. “I am fearing I may have compromised our agreement in some way. Or perhaps I am not doing enough to be satisfying the agreement we had,” Petra contemplated aloud. Dorothea tilted her head, recalling the first time Petra had mentioned an ‘agreement’ between the two, but never recalling just what that entailed.

“Agreement, hm? What agreement did you and Boy Wonder come to, Petra?” asked Dorothea. The young woman hunched over slightly, listening to Petra explain just what this agreement was that Petra often spoke of but never elaborated on before today. Dorothea leaned back in her chair when Petra finished her explanation. 

“I see… so you want to exchange information. You learn the… secret techniques of the commoners from Boy Wonder,” Dorothea furrowed her brows, trying not to giggle at how enthused Petra was at the idea of learning commoner tricks being ‘secret techniques’. “...And in exchange, you teach him about something- perhaps related to Brigid. But now you feel as if you haven’t done enough to satisfy that agreement from your end, and you feel as if things have become awkward between you two because of that hug you sprung on him; to which he started to avoid you,” Dorothea tapped her chin, recalling everything Petra had said to her. “Does that about summarise everything?”

“Yes, that is correct. He taught how to be… haggling, a good price from a merchant. Such a technique has made for many savings, and Manuela has been telling me how impressing… impressive the savings are. We are both very happy,” explained Petra, smiling at the memory of Maneula’s surprised expression of all the money they had left over before the next month occured. “He has taught me many other things too, but all I have been trading in information is about my life in Brigid. I am feeling as if what I am giving is… inadequate. And I am not accounting for my error at the markets.”

Dorothea sighed. She knew Petra well enough to know that she was one of the most level-headed individuals in the monastery; a sentiment echoed by both her house leader and many others from the other houses and those stationed at Garreg Mach. Dorothea knew that there was something wrong when Petra began to worry over one Ashe Ubert in the way that she did unlike anyone else; and in some respects, if her conversations with Sylvain were to be believed, Ashe was experiencing something akin to Petra’s worries but for different reasons entirely.

“Oh, Petra. Perhaps you’re over thinking this just a tad?” asked Dorothea, her face leaning into an open palm. “I’m sure if you just talk to him, you’ll find Boy Wonder is feeling the same thing that you are; even a certain Blue Lion has even told me as such. Perhaps he isn’t worried so much about the details of your bargain but the fact your bargain exists at all. Of course there’s the ‘boyfriend’ thing too, but I’m sure Boy Wonder will understand why you got that confused. Language differences can be quite the pain, correct?”

“I… suppose that last part is truthful, but I am not understanding the rest of the things, Dorothea,” frowned Petra.

“Just give it some thought, Petra. I’m sure you’ll understand it quite clearly.”

“But why are you not telling me right now?”

“Well, Sylvain is being strangely difficult, so I don’t know what’s going on in the head of the Blue Lions’ Boy Wonder, since waltzing up to him and striking a conversation would be a little awkward for me, don’t you think?”

Petra crossed her arms. “Are you sure you are not speaking in excuses? Why is Sylvain involving himself?”

“Oh, you know, just the usual- fake dating and such,” Dorothea shrugged. Petra balked in surprise, but Dorothea didn’t give her a chance to speak. “But back on topic, I wouldn’t go as far as to say I’m saying excuses, it’s just the truth. After all, you’re closer to him than anyone else in the Black Eagles are you not?”

Petra had to admit that Dorothea was correct. Though all three houses were classmates, it wasn’t often that anyone from the Black Eagles specifically interacted with Ashe- at least to the extent she had.

“Just give it some thought, okay Petra?” Dorothea stood and gathered the tea set to take back to her room. “After all, I’m sure someone like Ashe would be willing to listen to a friend's problems and help them, don’t you think?”

Petra let Dorothea’s words sink in for a moment.

Friends.

She wondered if they’d even reached that point. And if they had, she wondered if Ashe didn’t wish for such a thing anymore.

The Princess of Brigid stood to her feet when Dorothea called out to her, following the songstress back to their dorms. She let the thought sink into the back of her mind for the remainder of the night, favouring preparation for her house's assigned mission in Alliance territory.

...And to nobody's surprise, the Black Eagles house had been given another rather peaceful and easy mission for the month. Their mission was to escort a wealthy, but small Alliance noble, Acheron, from the Empire territory of Varely into Kingdom Territory, specifically into Gaspard. He’d made a request to Garreg Mach to assist in escorting him, citing claims he would be attacked on his way by bandits and would require assistance should the worst come to pass.

And though they had a few skirmishes on their way, the entire house was more than relieved to finally see Acheron leave their company, the Black Eagles, Edelgard especially irritated by his snobby and uppity attitude. They made camp in Gaspard Territory, close to the main town the night before they were to leave. The dawn of the next day came by in a flash before they knew it, the Black Eagles and their battalions scrambled to pack their supplies to begin their trip home.

“And that should be 

“Um… excuse me?”

Petra spun on her heels, coming face to face with two kids who looked a few years younger than her, both with distinctive silver hair that caught Petra’s eye almost immediately. Petra crouched to meet the young boy and the nervous girl eye to eye.

“How can I be helping you two?” Petra asked sweetly, the younger boy clearing his throat.

“D-do you go to Garreg Mach? The big school?” he asked the Princess with an awkward stutter.

“Yes, I do,” Petra nodded. “But it is rather early in the morning. I am thinking you should be at home, and not here in the cold morning air.”

The girl behind him grumbled something, the boy shooting a glare at her. Turning back, the boy produced a small letter from his pocket, and the girl a small package from behind her, both holding it out towards Petra. “Can you please take these with you, and give it to my brother? The letterman can take a long time to get to my brother’s school, even if we are close, so…”

Petra softly took it from his hands and glanced for a moment at who it was addressed to.

_Ashe Ubert_

“Oh. I see. My… suspicions are making sense now” Petra hummed. Silver eyes, silver hair and their faces that look almost like a younger Ashe; no wonder she found them so familiar. “You two are Marco and Alyssa, aren’t you?”

The pair stared at Petra in shock, Alyssa recovering first. “Y-you know us?!” she exclaimed with a voice crack. Marco didn’t say anything, though he was just as stumped.

“Of course! Your brother has been mentioning you two, and is speaking very highly of you. What a funny coincidence that we met,” Petra beamed at the two.

Alyssa’s jaw dropped, letting out a tiny gasp. “U-um… i-it’s an honor to hear that, u-um, Princess,” Alyssa bowed, pushing on Marco’s back to mimic her. “My brother- Ashe, he speaks very highly of you in our letters too!”

“Letters? Ashe is speaking of me in them?” Petra asked, mystified by the sudden revelation. “But please, you don’t have to bow. I may be royalty, but here in Fodlan, I am simply Petra. Oh, and do not be calling me Princess, you are making my cheeks blush!” Petra chirped.

Marco and Alyssa stood upright, their turn to be bewildered that someone of a royal family was so down to earth.

“O-ok, um, Petra,” Marco cleared his throat. “But yes, my brother did mention something about you in his last letter. Actually, it’s strange that we’ve met like this, isn’t it?”

“Mhm,” Alyssa nodded. “Maybe it’s some sort of sign from the Goddess?” the youngest Ubert sibling tapped her chin. 

While Petra wasn’t a devout believer in the Goddess of Fodlan, she certainly found it odd that their meeting occurred in the way it did; and to find out that Ashe wrote about her _and_ wrote highly of her made her chest tighten. The feeling passed by quickly, but the sensation still stuck around with her for a few more lingering moments until it became nothing but a memory. The voice of her House Leader, Edelgard reached her ears, Petra turning to see the heir to the Empire motioning for her to meet with the rest of the Black Eagles before they were to leave.

“Perhaps that is the case” replied Petra. “But we shall never be knowing,” Petra shrugged, reaching out her hands for one of the Ubert siblings' hands, then clasping them between hers. “Marco. Alyssa. I will be making sure to get your letter and package to Ashe as soon as I am able. And it was a great honor meeting… no, I am honoured to have met you two today,” the Princess smiled warmly.

“N-no! The h-honor is all ours, really!” Marco stuttered, Alyssa nodding energetically with her brother.

Petra let the hands of the Ubert siblings go and stood upright, letter and package in hand. “If you are insisting, then I suppose I cannot argue,” heartily laughed Petra. “Now please be making sure you two are returning home safely, okay?”

“O-ok. Goodbye Pri- er, Petra,” Marco solemnly nodded, his back turned as he made his way home. Alyssa did the same, quickly following after Marco for a moment when she abruptly stopped in her tracks.

“Petra?”

“Yes, Alyssa?”

“Um... if we see each other again,” Alyssa began, playing with the strands of her long silver hair. “Can you teach me how to braid my hair like yours? My brother said in his letter that your hair is really pretty…”

Petra’s mind went blank. 

_‘Wait. What?’_

“...And I think it’s pretty as well, so I want it to look pretty like yours too!” Alyssa exclaimed. “Can you… please?”

Petra felt herself melt seeing the young girl’s puppy eyes- an easy way to forget that she was blushing from the compliment from Ashe she glossed over. While she had no intention of saying no, there was definitely no way such a thought could ever cross her mind with an expression like that.

“One day. If we are meeting each other again with time favouring us, then I shall, Alyssa. Will that be okay?”

“Yes! That’s definitely okay!” Her expression brightened exponentially. “Ok, um, goodbye, Petra!” Alyssa waved, Petra waving back to her as the young girl rushed off to her home. Petra smiled as they disappeared back into town and towards a nearby house, a poor older woman standing in their way into the house, scolding them in panic. The Brigid Princess jogged back to meet with her House Leader and fellow classmates to perform final checks before they were to leave their campsite.

“Hello there, Petra,” a familiar face spoke up alongside Dorothea, the young man yawning mid sentence. “...We’ve been wondering where you went,” Linhardt rubbed his eyes, blinking at the package she now held in her hands. Linhardt and Dorothea spotted the items she had in hand and scanned their eyes over the card and package.

“Oh? Now where did that package come from? Did you do some birthday shopping in town last night, Petra? Really, you shouldn’t have. We would have been perfectly content with getting presents for you.”

Petra shook her head. “You have misunderstanding, Dorothea. Some young kids in town are wishing for me to deliver these items back to Garreg Mach.”

“Deliver?” Dorothea asked quizzically. “I suppose us doing it would be more convenient for them but- who is it for, if not for you?”

Petra bit her lip. “I am thinking of giving the items to Lady Rhea, or Seteth. I am unsure of who the receiver… rather, the recipient is, but I am assuming they will know them.”

Dorothea opened her mouth to respond, but Linhardt interrupted her rather abruptly “Which means it’s none of our business.”

Dorothea frowned. “You’re being no fun, Lin.”

“Well, I’m not usually one someone would call ‘fun’ now am I?” Linhardt said blandly. Dorothea couldn’t exactly argue that to some extent, even if ‘eccentric’ was a more fitting word. Edelgard called out to her fellow classmates and signalled for the carts carrying supplies and soldiers to move, finally beginning their journey home. Linhardt’s gaze passed by Petra’s as all three secured the final seats on one of the carts. The enthusiastic crest scholar’s eyes travelled to the card, then back up to Petra’s face, giving her a barely noticeable nod.

The plum haired Princess nodded in return and simpered, thankful for his sudden intervention earlier. 

As she held onto the package and card she carefully tucked away on their trip back to Garreg Mach, some hours had passed before she had realised what she had- or specifically _hadn’t_ done when she said her farewells to the twins. Ashe’s advice- or perhaps, Ashe himself had begun to influence Petra more than she realised.

She wondered why she didn’t mind such a thought.

* * *

When the Black Eagles finally arrived back at Garreg Mach, Petra thought it best to keep Ashe’s package on hand, seeing as the Blue Lions had yet to return from Garreg Mach She also knew that it was best to do so from prying eyes like Dorothea. She treasured her as a friend, but Petra wasn’t one to accept practical help from those around her unless she desperately required it, outside of being on the battlefield.

If holding onto Ashe’s package gave her an excuse to stop avoiding Ashe herself, then she would take that opportunity. Petra left her room and began to search for the knight-in-training, hearing that the Blue Lions had in fact returned earlier that morning. She searched high and low from the training grounds to the cathedral to the dining hall and kitchen- nothing. It was as if he’d disappeared off of the face of earth entirely. Naturally, Petra found herself wandering towards his dorm room, the only other place he’d be.

And unsurprisingly, she found him there. But the sight of Ashe… disturbed her; an admittedly strange thought all things considered. Dark circles under his eyes and his back hunched over, Ashe looked as if he were in a terrible mood and state of health. The boy groaned, hobbled over towards his room and slammed the door shut.

_‘This is perhaps not the best time to be speaking to him’_ thought Petra. Making her way back to her room, Petra sat down at her desk and looked at the calendar she’d been provided at the start of the year. Petra crossed out every day she had missed while she was away for her monthly mission, stopping on Thursday the fourth of the Horsebow Moon. She supposed the poor boy would rather not be disturbed for the remainder of the when looking like that. She tapped her quill on her Friday, noting when she’d deliver his letter and rather hefty package.

The sound of the dinner bell ringing throughout the monastery abruptly took Petra out of her thoughts. After a week away from Garreg Mach, she was more than happy to hear the familiar chime that pulled her out of her seat and lured her to the dining hall; Petra more than happy to have a substantial meal and sleep after dealing with Acheron’s bickering, a reward long overdue.

And as she fell asleep that night, she dreamed of home, of Brigid. She felt the soft sand under her feet, the smell of the ocean as it slowly rose up and fell on the beach and a cool breeze brushing against her face as the sun's warmth shone down on her.

And to her surprise, a figure appeared next to her.

“I didn’t scare you, did I?”

Petra came face to face with Ashe, oddly still in his Garreg Mach uniform like she was, messy hair blowing in the wind. She wanted to speak, but found she was unable. She shook her head.

Ashe smiled.

He reached out for her hand and lightly grasped it in his. She didn’t stop him.

Ashe lifted her small hand up and pressed his lips to her knuckles, peppering them with light kisses. Petra felt her face glow red at such a display of affection and the cool confidence that was seemed both befitting and unbefitting of him at the same time - and yet, she didn't want him to stop.

And he didn't. Ashe wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, letting the other hand run through her hair. 

“Petra," Ashe whispered in her ear, as if he were desperate to tell her something. "Petra, I…”

“Ashe…?”

Then nothing. Her world went dark and there was no answer. Soon, the light returned, the sun’s light reaching under her door when Petra opened her eyes, staring at the roof of her dorm room.

And though she didn’t think much of it at the time or any time after she awoke, somewhere within her, Petra yearned to return to that dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I kind of lied.
> 
> NEXT chapter is where we'll have the big Ashe and Petra interactions. I kind of started writing and then I had these other ideas and before I knew it, I was about 13k words deep. So I decided to split the chapters for now just so that I can say there's an update being pushed out weekly. 
> 
> And considering we're probably going into lockdown where I am soon, the next two chapters should be smooth sailing.
> 
> Also, yes, I decided to change Petra's goals from Wyvern Rider to Pegasus Knight. You'll see why later.
> 
> Anyway, read, review, bookmark, etc, and of course have a good one!


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